Thread: Immigration among topics discussed at Latino summit

Immigration among topics discussed at Latino summit

dailybulletin.com
By Sandra Emerson, Staff Writer
Created: 11/05/2011 04:07:37 PM PDT

UPLAND - The desire for comprehensive immigration reform was one of several topics discussed Saturday at a White House community action summit targeting the Hispanic community at the UC Riverside.

Latinos throughout the Inland Empire participated in the summit, which focused on some of the biggest issues facing the Latino community, including immigration, education, jobs and economic recovery as well as health care.

Several White House Officials spoke with the summit participants in small-session groups and one-on-one to receive input as well as to outline actions taken by President Barack Obama and his administration thus far.

Felicia Escobar, senior policy adviser for the White House Domestic Policy Council, said the Obama administration has been committed to getting immigration reform passed by Congress, but change takes time.

"To implement a major reform of immigration policy is going to take time and we've been at it for ten years now and continue to be at it until we get the change we want," Escobar said.

Escobar said comprehensive immigration reform means creating a stronger enforcement system at the work site and along the border, a legalization program as well as addressing the family-based and employment-based systems for obtaining visas.

"At the end of the day all it really comes down to is a broken system that needs to be reformed and Congress that needs to act and help pass immigration reform," Escobar said.

One of the actions taken during the Obama administration has been to set priorities for enforcing the immigration law.

In August the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it would review about 300,000 illegal immigration deportation cases focusing on criminals and public safety threats.

A memo sent out in June from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton calls for immigration officers to use "discretion" before charging illegal immigrants and moving forward on deportation measures.

Escobar said the use of "discretion" will focus on illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.

"We want to be focused on folks convicted of crimes rather than someone with strong ties to our country and is just trying to live in the country and earn a living," she said.

Julie Rodriguez, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, said the percentage of convicted illegal immigrants deported has increased from 31 percent to 55 percent in the past three years.

"The priority ... is we are enforcing our laws and focusing on those who pose a national security threat or public safety threat," Rodriguez said.

However, Maria Anna Gonzales of Riverside, questions the White House officials' statistics.

"The vast majority of those being deported did not commit a crime other than being here without a document. They were not convicted of a crime," Gonzales said. "Also what about those kids they have at detention centers that are part of a family that have been separated from their mom and dad and are being held in separate facilities? What happened to them? That's not in their report."

Gonzales said she would like to see the Obama administration show more support for the poor, homeless and families who are struggling after losing their homes and jobs.

"I mean all this is in play, but making it sound like we are doing the best we can to bring the most to you," Gonzales said. "I never hear them mention the poor. Where is their plan for the homeless? So all those middle class we had before, guess what? They're out on the street now because they lost their homes and their jobs."

To Gonzales the solution to her concerns are simple.

"I would like to see someone else run for president other than Obama," she said. "There are other Democrats out there that understand what needs to be done as opposed to hiring the same people Bush had."

The summit in Riverside was one of several that have taken place across the country.

Representatives of the Small Business Association, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, the departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, and Labor were in attendance.

Paul Granillo, president and CEO of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, addressed the officials on behalf of the Inland Empire asking them to create a partnership.

"I have a challenge for you from the Obama administration. That challenge is to truly listen to us today," Granillo said. "We are a very unique region but because we're 40 miles inland from a major city ... we're held captive to the L.A. media market. Too often we have been forgotten yet we are 4.3 million people. If we were a state we would be 25th in size. The economy of Riverside and San Bernardino counties is greater than that of the state of Oregon."

Granillo implored the officials to listen to the participants.

"What I ask of you today is to listen to us, especially those of us who are Latino and those of us who care about furthering the education and the health and the economic state of the Latino community, which is the majority of people who live in Riverside and San Bernardino counties," Granillo said.

Read more: http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_19 ... z1csaHYoKZ

"At the end of the day all it really comes down to is a broken system that needs to be reformed and Congress that needs to act and help pass immigration reform," Escobar said.

At the end of the day all these Legal Hispanics need to realize our system is not broken it simply has not been enforced. This has allowed millions of workers legal and illegal to enter an economy that has been declining for a decade.
They want education, health care , jobs and all the rest, then some of them will have to go and not that many more can come. How much worse does it have to get for them to see the truth?

The illegals want welfare and theit kids, 85 percent will be BANGERS for the Cartels OBUZZED let hang here.

White House scolded at Inland Empire summit with Latinos
Obama administration representatives hear from people upset about the region's grim economy and the failure to change the U.S. immigration system.

Comments 3
Phil Willon, Los Angeles Times

November 6, 2011

Obama administration officials ventured to the Inland Empire on Saturday for a policy summit with Latinos, getting an earful from residents stung by the region's flattened economy and critical of Washington's failure to reform the nation's immigration system.

The daylong meeting at UC Riverside, one of a series that have been held across the country, included free-flowing policy bull sessions and presentations by White House representatives touting President Obama's proposed jobs bills and record on healthcare, education funding and immigration.

The crowd filled a cavernous auditorium and included Latino activists, business owners, teachers and other residents — most of whom said they came to be heard rather than listen to speeches.

The economic wounds from the recession remain raw in a region where fortunes plummeted with the crash of the housing market and construction industry. Once a haven for Latino immigrants looking for housing construction jobs, unemployment now hovers around 14% in San Bernardino County and 13% in Riverside County.

"This just can't be an exercise in politics. It can't be, a region gets checked off and we move on," said Paul Granillo, president of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, a coalition of the region's businesses, government and nonprofit groups. "The challenges that face us are severe."

Nationwide, the Latino unemployment rate is just over 13%, compared with the national average of about 9%. Nearly a quarter of the 51 million Latinos in the U.S. live in poverty, compared with 15% for the nation as a whole.

San Bernardino, a city where Latinos account for 6 of every 10 residents, has the second-highest poverty rate among the nation's major cities. A U.S. Census report released in September showed that 34.7% of city residents live below the poverty line.

"There is no doubt that people are hurting and people need help," said Dennis Garcia, 52, an unemployed laboratory worker from Riverside who attended the summit. "Is it Obama's fault? I think he's done a good job, considering the mess he was handed by [President George W.] Bush."

UC Riverside political science professor Armando Navarro, a vocal immigrant rights activist, didn't let the president off so easy. Navarro said Obama made a serious miscalculation pushing his healthcare legislation through Congress early in his term, depleting precious political capital that would have been better used for initiatives to create jobs and save homes from foreclosure.

"His first order of business should have been to get people back to work," Navarro said.

Jose A. Rico, deputy director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, said the purpose of the summit was to hear the Latino community's opinions and suggestions about policies coming out of Washington — even if they were critical of the president.

But Rico and others also defended Obama, saying that hundreds of thousands of additional Americans have healthcare coverage because of the Affordable Health Act — and the aim is to expand coverage to all Americans in 2014. Billions of additional grants and loans are available to college students.

Julie Rodriguez, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, also reminded attendees that Obama is delivering on his promise to end the war in Iraq and protect equality in the workplace.

But in 2008, Obama promised to push for comprehensive immigration reforms that would provide a path to legal status for the estimated 10 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, and so far there has been no legislation.

Instead, the administration has deported more immigrants than the Bush administration, nearly 1 million over the past three years.

Daniel Guzman, an immigrant rights activist, said Obama has been an "absolute failure" on immigration reform and is losing support among Latino voters. Obama's approval rating among Latinos was 51% in a recent Pew Research poll, compared with 58% a year ago.

"He can blame the Republicans, but that's passing the buck," Guzman said of Obama's record on immigration reform. "He's given in to the enemy."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 0725.story

Nationwide, the Latino unemployment rate is just over 13%, compared with the national average of about 9%. Nearly a quarter of the 51 million Latinos in the U.S. live in poverty, compared with 15% for the nation as a whole.

I suspect these number include illegals. Of course, they will dramatically impact the number and rate of poverty among Latinos, since they undercut wages for everyone else. This is the result of cheap labor. If these groups want to encourage illegal immigration, then they must accept the consequences. I don't hear any of them complain about the unemployment rate among young African Americans, since this is the group that competes most directly with illegals. That rate has fluctuated between 15 and 16 percent in 2011, higher than the 13 percent they complain of.